Cape Town: Former South African President Nelson Mandela plans to play an advisory role in the race row that has engulfed Springbok rugby for the past two weeks, a local Sunday newspaper has reported.

Mandela will meet the Springbok team “in the next few days to try and find a solution... before the team leaves for the World Cup in Australia”, Afrikaans language newspaper Rapport said.

Retired Judge King, 74, has been appointed by the South African Rugby Football Union (SARFU) and SA Rugby, the professional arm of the sport, to head an independent investigation into alleged prejudice within Springbok rugby.

Last week, locks Geo Cronje and Quinton Davids were left out of the 30-strong South African squad for next month’s World Cup following an alleged racist incident at a training camp.

Auckland: A 15-year-old racer was killed on Sunday when his car collided with a 13-year-old female competitor’s vehicle in an Auckland Car Club race involving single-seater, 1,800 cc cars at PukekoHe Raceway.

Police said Michael Montgomery McHugh was taken to a nearby hospital’s intensive care unit with serious head injuries and died about three hours later.

The girl, whom police would not name, received moderate injuries, including torn ligaments in her wrist and whiplash.

Preliminary inquiries found that both drivers lost control of their cars after one clipped the other during the final lap of the race.